This invention relates to the removal of undesirable components from industrial gases and more particularly to the substantial elimination of hydrogen sulfide from such gases.
Industrial gases such as coke oven gas, natural gas and various artifically produced fuel gases are used either by industrial plants to make useful products or burned in suitable combustion apparatus to produce heat. These gases are composed of varying mixtures of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, various aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen cyanide, carbonyl sulfide and other combustibles. The presence of sulfur compounds in such industrial gases is undesirable because of possible corrosion of intermediate gas transmission lines and other apparatus by the gases, possible contamination of chemical substances made from the gases, and possible discharge of undesirable concentrations of sulfur oxides to the atmosphere during combustion of the gases.
In the past such industrial gases have often been treated by passing them through absorption-desortion processes of various types. These absorption-desorption processes give off so-called foul gases which are treated to recover the sulfur present in the gas and thus prevent its discharge to the atmosphere.